Another Stern Test
ARGYLE travel to Northampton Town in Sky Bet League Two today with the aim of three more points to complete what has been a successful August.
Only five games into the season, the two sides have experienced somewhat polarising starts to the season. The Greens have amassed 10 points out of a possible 15 to find themselves sitting pretty in second place just a point off the summit of the table. Whereas the Cobblers have picked up just four points from their opening five games and are finding themselves below their own expectations in 20th.
Goals have been hard to come by for Northampton, managing just three in the opening five league games but, despite the 18-place divide between the sides, Argyle manager Ryan Lowe isn’t seeing the game as a foregone conclusion.
“We’re expecting a tough, tough game,” said Ryan. “They haven’t had the best start they’d have liked, but we’re not taking Northampton lightly at, all we know it’s going to be a stern test going there, it always is.
“[Northampton manager] Keith [Curle] has brought some quality players in and he’s got rid of a few also but he’s brought the right characters in that he feels can help them get up the league and they’ll be there and thereabouts, but we have to solely focus on us. It’s all about what we do.”
A positive result could see Argyle top the table once again in the early stages of the season - depending on how Devon Derby rivals, and current league leaders, Exeter City get on against Mansfield Town.
Trailing the Grecians by a point, Lowe has dismissed suggestions of having to play catch up. “I’m not trying to chase anyone down; we’re just trying to get to our level where we want to be,” he said. “We’re not chasing anyone, there’s only five games gone.
“Let’s worry about us, no-one else. Ten points out of a possible 15 is a good start but I always want more and the standards we set are very high. We aren’t chasing anyone down, we’re just worried about where we get to and when we get there. It’s up to us to get to where we want to get to.”